Brazilian ornamental phytogenetic resources in Embrapa germplasm banks: obstacles and opportunities

Abstract Brazilian floriculture is driven by novelties, requiring the constant entry of new products into the market. This situation favors Brazil, which has, in its native flora, unique species in the world and with high potential for rational use for commercial purposes. The Brazilian flora with ornamental potential is little explored, and the use of species is restricted and, often, extractive with consequent genetic erosion. The use of native species from different ecosystems may constitute a future alternative of products for Brazilian floriculture. Despite the large amount of plant genetic resources, there are few initiatives for the conservation and domestication of species and improvement for sustainable use. For this reason, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) conserves collections of ornamental plants, and the research initiatives of these collections form the Genetic Resources of Ornamental Plants Project. In addition to conservation, it sought, in partnership with other institutions, the characterization and evaluation of the potential use of these species aiming at the completion of products for floriculture. In this way, the materials already characterized and documented make it possible to add value to genetic resources, already maintained. Currently, Embrapa has six ex situ collections of ornamental plants (Tropical species, Bromeliads, Cactaceae and species from the Pampa Biome, Amazonian Orchids and species from Cerrado) and also counts on the genetic variability of banks of other products (Passion fruit, Pineapple, Paspalum, Pepper, Pumpkin germplasm banks) that have been evaluating accessions, selecting and registering cultivars for ornamental use. Resumo A floricultura brasileira é movida por novidades, necessitando da constante entrada de novos produtos no mercado. Esta situação favorece o Brasil que dispõe, em sua flora nativa, de espécies únicas no mundo, e com elevado potencial de aproveitamento racional para fins comerciais. A flora brasileira de potencial ornamental é pouco explorada, sendo restrita e muitas vezes extrativista a utilização de espécies com consequente erosão genética. A utilização de espécies nativas de diferentes ecossistemas pode constituir uma alternativa futura de produtos regionais diferenciados para a floricultura brasileira. Apesar da grande quantidade de recursos fitogenéticos são poucas as iniciativas de conservação e domesticação das espécies e melhoramento, para aproveitamento sust